Method and apparatus for forming a finish on a glass container

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for forming a finish on a glass container on a production line. Glass containers having an integrally formed moil portion on the upper end of the container body portion are loaded in sequence in an upright position into uniformly spaced chucks on a continuously moving endless conveyor. The containers are carried through a first heating zone while being driven in rotation to achieve even thermal exposure of the containers. During transit of the first heating zone, the containers are passed around a vertical end turn to orient the containers in an inverted position, with the moil porion lowermost, as they pass along a horizontal lower run of the endless conveyor. During their transit of the lower run, the containers pass between a linear row of opposed burners which direct a high intensity row of flame jets against a narrow porion of the container body to first thermally sever the moil portion from the body and to subsequently from a beaded finish on the container. The containers are rotated during their passage through this set of burners at a controlled rate to achieve the desired finish formation. The finish is subsequently inspected and containers with malformed finishes are promptly ejected at the inspection station are subsequently lowered partially into the pockets of a synchronized pocket conveyor, the container chucks being opened when the container is partially inserted into the pocket to drop the container the remaining distance into the packet.

April 10, 1973 D, BANYAS ET AL 3,726,659

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1970 0 l8 Sheets-Sheet l HIHEII"l lmug lgi m i 7mm 0. BRA/YRS Eon/M0 l). fiass INVENTORS April 10, 1973 BANYAS ET AL 3,726,659

METHQD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1970 18 Sheets-Sheet 2 JOHN D 34 VA?) April 10, 1973 A BANYAS ET Filed Oct. 2, 1970 METHOD AND APPARALUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER 18 Sheets-Sheet MW "I JOHN D BHNYHS 5014mm fi- Ross INVENTORS April 10, 1973 J. D. BANYAS ET METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1970 Q13 VET? l8 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIGS April 10, 1973 J BANYAS. ET AL 3,726,659

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1970 96 18 Sheets-Sheet E -:iiifl"?" 1 I94 15! IDS-" 116 Jowv 0 8440 45 $64 0 w zgw 4, #055 \"ENTORS Qf/w nbyd ITO April 10, 1973 J, BA Y ET AL 3,726,659

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1970 18 Sheets-Sheet 6 FlGll Jo/M/ 0- 51mm;

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METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1970 18 Sheets-Sheet '7 FIG l2 Jon/v D. Bn/vms owneo H. Ross INVENTORS BY KZJWAJ April 10, 1973 B Y ET AL 3,726,559

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER 18 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Oct.

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METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1970- 18 Sheets=Sheet 9 J HN 0. Emma 1mm 4. ass

April-10, 1973 J. D. BANYAS ET AL 3,726,659

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER JOHN D. Bmv m5 0 WARD ,0. 1241s; INVENTORS April 10, 1973 BANYAS ET AL 3,726,659

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1970 18 Sheets-Sheet 11 F l G I T Joe/v 0. Ban/ms Eownen 0. 1905s INVENTORS BY cat/WW April 10, 1973 J. D. BANYAS ET AL 3,726,659

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1970 18 Sheets-Sheet 12 wfi W NWm M a; WJM 2 m M 6 J0 FIG I8 April 10, 1973 BANYAS ET AL 3,726,559

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1970 18 Sheets-Sheet 15 x SM + FIG 20 2F L gol JOHN D. 84 m;

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METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1970 l8 Sheets-Sheet 14.

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April 10, 1973 J. 0. BANYAS ET AL 3,726,659

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER l8 Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed Oct. 2, 1970 mm 0C 3 0S m m M BEE 1W 0% WW NE/ M w J M d won -o o o April 10, 1973 BANYAS ET AL 3,726,659

METHOD AND APPARATUS FUR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1970 18 Sheets-Sheet 16 JIM/v 0. 8mm;

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METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1970 18 Sheets-$heet 18 1% /A/ '1 508 508 502 l ""l FIG 50 F l G 5 l JOHN D. BAN m5 0 W020. 0. floss //V( E/V ORS BY MM QM United States Patent 3,726,659 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMHQG A FINISH ON A GLASS CONTAINER John D. Banyas and Edward A. Ross, Toledo, Ohio, assignors to Owens-Illinois, Inc. Filed Oct. 2, 1970, Ser. No. 77,425 Int. Cl. C03]; 9/12 U.S. Ci. 65-70 21 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Method and apparatus for forming a finish on a glass container on a production line. Glass containers having an integrally formed moil portion on the upper end of the container body portion are loaded in sequence in an upright position into uniformly spaced chucks on a continuously moving endless conveyor. The containers are carried through a first heating zone while being driven in rotation to achieve even thermal exposure of the containers. During transit of the first heating zone, the containers are passed around a vertical end turn to orient the containers in an inverted position, with the moil portion lowermost, as they pass along a horizontal lower run of the endless conveyor. During their transit of the lower run, the containers pass between a linear row of opposed burners which direct a high intensity row of flame jets against a narrow portion of the container body to first thermally sever the moil portion from the body and to subsequently form a beaded finish on the container. The containers are rotated during their passage through this set of burners at a controlled rate to achieve the desired finish formation. The finish is subsequently inspected and containers with malformed finishes are promptly ejected at the inspection station. Containers not ejected at the inspection station are subsequently lowered partially into the pockets of a synchronized pocket conveyor, the container chucks being opened when the container is partially inserted into the pocket to drop the container the remaining distance into the pocket.

RELATED PATENTS AND APPLICATIONS The machine disclosed in this application forms a portion of the overall container production line disclosed and claimed in the commonly owned copending application of Richard A. Heaton et al., Ser. No. 24,721, filed Apr. 1, 1970. Containers are loaded into the machine of the present invention by a transfer machine which forms the subject matter of another commonly owned copending application of John D. Banyas, Ser. No. 825,850, filed May 19, 1969, now Pat. No. 3,590,982. The container which is handled by the machine of the present invention forms the glass portion of the composite container disclosed and claimed in Heatons US. Pat. No. 3,372,826.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As explained in detail in the aforementioned copending Heaton et a1. application Ser. No. 24,721 the glass container of Heaton Pat. No. 3,372,826 is initially formed in a ribbon-type forming machine with a moil or waste portion formed integrally with the container body and projecting upwardly from the container body. The purpose of the integrally formed moil is to enable the freshly formed container to be handled immediately upon its removal from the forming machine, at a time when the temperature of the freshly-formed container is so high that mechanical handling elements may mar or deform those portions of the container with which they come in contact. The transfer machine of the aforementioned Banyas Pat. No. 3,590,982 is designed to take the freshly formed containers from the ribbon machine by grasping the moil portion of the freshly formed containers, thus avoiding contact with that portion of the article which will form the ultimate finished container.

The function of the present machine and method is to receive the containers with the inter-grally formed moil from the transfer machine of Banyas Pat. No. 3,590,982, to sever the moil portion and to form the container finish after the moil has been severed.

SUMMARY OF THE rINVENTION The machine of the present invention takes the form of an endless chain conveyor driven in continuous movement along an endless path and carrying a series of uniformly-spaced container chuck assemblies. The endless path includes vertically aligned horizontal upper and lower runs interconnected by end turn sections, with the chuck assemblies being adapted to support the containers in an upright position on the upper run and in an inverted position on the lower run. The conveyor chain is formed with uniformly-spaced transverse link pins, with the chuck assemblies being coupled at their forward end to each link pin. Each chuck assembly includes two similar chucks, one behind the other and in order to minimize the change in acceleration as the elongate chuck assemblies move between linear portions of their path and the curved end turn sections, parabolic merging sections are employed at the inlet and outlet ends of each end turn section.

The chain is guided throughout its endless path by fixed guide tracks. A main drive sprocket meshes with both the upper and lower runs of the chain adjacent to, but spaced from one of the end turn sections. The main drive sprocket is driven by a motor which is synchronized with the drives of other machines of the production line, such as the transfer machine which loads containers onto the machine of the present invention and the pocket conveyor which receives containers from the present machine.

In addition to the main drive sprocket, a second or slave drive sprocket is meshed with the lower run of the chain near the opposite end of the lower run. The slave drive sprocket is driven by a constant speed motor through an eddy current or slip clutch at a speed which tends to drive the chain faster than it is driven by the main drive sprocket, the excess power being absorbed in the slip clutch to apply a predetermined degree of tension to the lower run of the chain between the two sprockets. The main drive sprocket and its adjacent end turn are mounted for horizontal adjustment to further adjust chain tension and the end turn section adjacent the main drive sprocket is further mounted for horizontal adjustment relative to the main drive sprocket to regulate tension of the chain passing around this end turn.

Containers with integrally formed moil portions are loaded onto the individual chucks in an upright position at a loading point on the horizontal upper run of the endless conveyor. The chuck assemblies include a seat engageable with the bottom of the container and three sym metrically disposed releasable gripping fingers which engage the body portion of the container to grip and center the container with its axis coincident with an axis of rotation established for the chuck upon its chain carried chuck assembly. The coincident axes extend in a true vertical direction on both the horizontal upper and lower runs. Each chuck includes a sprocket which is engageable with various chains mounted along selected portions of the chuck path to drive the chuck in rotation as it passes along the chain. After the containers are loaded onto the chucks, they pass along the upper run of the conveyor between a pair of opposed pre-heat burners which extend along opposite sides of the path of movement of the containers. The pre-heat burners extend along the upper run of the conveyor and around the first end turn section and function to maintain the temperature of the container within a predetermined range during its passage of this portion of their path. A stationary chain engages the chuck sprockets on the upper run to drive the chucks and supported containers in continued rotation to achieve an even exposure of the containers to the pre-heat burners.

After the containers pass around the end turn section, they are inverted and move into a main burner section which includes opposed burners of novel construction ex tending along the lower run of the conveyor at apposite sides of the path of movement of the containers. The main burners produce a linear row of narrow flame jets which are directed accurately to a narrow band on the containers at the juncture of the moil portion and container body portion. During their passage through the main burners, the chuck sprockets are engaged by one run of an endless chain which is driven by a reversible variable speed drive in a direction and speed such that a selected rate of rotation of the containers is maintained during their passage through the main burners. During their transit through the first section of the main burners, the moil portion is thermally severed by the action of the flame jets and drops freely from the container body. A beaded finish is formed on the severed edge as the containers pass through the remaining section of the burners. The burners are constructed from individual burner sections, so that different fuels, fuel pressures, flame widths, etc. may be employed at difierent sections of the burner. The burner sections are mounted for adjustment vertically relative to the container path, horizontally toward and away from the container path and also pivotally about a horizontal axis parallel to the container path so that the angle of impingement of the flame jets on the containers can be regulated.

After leaving the main burners, the containers pass through a finish inspection station, where they are rotated by a second stationary chain. Malformed containers are ejected from the line at this point by manipulating the chuck release mechanism to open the fingers, thus allowing the inverted container to drop freely from the chuck. After passing beyond the inspection-rejection station, the chain moves onto a downwardly inclined section of its path to lower the containers partially into pockets on a pocket conveyor driven in synchronium and alignment with the containers at this section of their path. As stated above, the forward end of each chuck assembly is supported upon a transverse link pin of the conveyor chain, and is supported so that it can be pivoted about the horizontal axis of the pin. A guide roller on the chuck assembly is engaged with a stationary track on the conveyor frame to control pivotal movement of the clutch assembly on the pin, and during their transit of the downwardly inclined portion of the chain path, the chuck assembly is pivoted to maintain the containers supported on the assembly in a true vertical position so that the containers are accurately partially inserted into the aligned pockets of the pocket conveyor. At the lower end of the downwardly inclined section of their path, a chuck release mechanism actuates the chucks to open the gripping fingers to drop the containers freely the remaining distance into the aligned pockets.

The chuck mechanism includes a latch automatically operable to retain the fingers in their open position, thus allowing a momentary actuation of the release mechanism at the normal release point or at the rejection station,

.As the chucks pass around the second end turn, the link pins of the chain are engaged by a lubrication system which may be selectively operated to lubricate the chain pins. The opened chucks pass around the second end turn onto the upper run of the conveyor and again reach the loading point. The chucks remain latched in their open position until after a container has been lowered between the open gripping fingers. At the outlet end of the loading station, an actuator on the conveyor frame unlatches the chucks, allowing the gripping fingers to move to their closed position.

Although the machine and method are specifically described in terms of handling a specific glass container, the invention is equally capable of handling other types of glass containers or hollow glass articles initially formed as a blank with an intergarl moil, such as electric light bulb envelopes or glass tumblers, for example.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the following specification and in the drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a very schematic side elevational diagram of a burn-off machine embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial side view of the finish end portion of a container blank as received by the burn-off machine;

FIG. 3 is a detail side elevational view of the finish portion of the container after the finish has been formed by the burn-01f machine;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view, with certain parts broken away or omitted, showing details of conveyor chain tension adjustments;

FIG. 5 is a detail cross-sectional view, taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 6, showing details of the link pin construction;

FIG. 6 is a detail plan view of a portion of the main conveyor chain of the burn-off machine;

FIG. 7 is a partial plan view showing an expansion joint employed in the chain supporting track;

FIG. 8 is a detail side elevational view, partially in section, of the chuck assembly;

FIG. 9 is a detail plan view, partialy in section, of the chuck assembly;

FIG. 10 is a rear view of a portion of the chuck assembly;

FIG. 11 is a detail cross-sectional view, taken on a vertical plane, showing a chuck assembly in the preheat burner along the upper run of the main conveyor;

FIG. 12 is a detail cross-sectional view, taken in a vertical plane, on the lower run of the main conveyor, showing a chuck assembly passing along the lower spin cycle portion of its path;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a portion of a main burner module, partially in cross-section;

FIG. 14 is a detail plan view showing a portion of a burner shim;

FIG. 15 is a detail cross-sectional view, taken in a vertical plane, through the main burner;

FIG. 16 is a top plan view of a portion of the main burner assembly;

FIG. 17 is a detail cross-sectional view of the burner assembly showing the mechanism for pivotally adjusting the burners;

FIG. 18 is a side elevational view, partially in crosssection, of a portion of the chain lubricating mechanism;

FIG. 19 is a detail cross-sectional view, taken on a plane passing through the main shaft axis, showing fur ther details of the lubricating mechanism;

FIG. 20 is a detail cross-sectional view taken on line 20-40 of FIG. -19;

FIG. 21 is a detail cross-sectional view taken on line 21-21 of FIG. 19;

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram of the lubricant mechanism control system;

FIG. 23 is a detail cross-sectional view of the lubricant discharge fitting;

FIG. 24 is a plan view, with certain parts broken away or omitted, of a stationary spin cycle chain;

FIG. 25 is a detailed cross-sectional view taken on line 25-25 of FIG. 24;

FIG. 26 is a plan view, with certain parts broken away or omitted, of the variable speed spin cycle mechanism;

FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2727 of FIG. 26;

FIG. 28 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2828 of FIG. 26';

FIG. 29 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2929 Of FIG. 26; 

